Travelers To Spend More In 1989

High gasoline prices shouldn't keep vacationers home this summer, according to the U.S. Travel Data Center's 1989 summer vacation travel forecast.

The report said auto travel will continue to be strong this season, increasing 4 percent compared with last year and accounting for 83 percent of all summer vacation travel.

Among those in the center's national survey, one-third of the people who traveled last summer said they plan to venture out again.

Most travelers also indicated they are planning to spend more for their summer vacations; only 10 percent said they plan to spend less.

According to the American Automobile Association, it is not unusual for gas prices to begin rising around Easter.

This year, the surge started in early March.

Prices have been steadily rising following the tightening of supply by foreign producers at the first of the March; when a drilling platform exploded in the North Sea about mid-March; and after the Alaskan oil spill on March 24.

Area gasoline prices, which had been virtually unchanged since January, had climbed as much as 10 cents a gallon by the first week in April.

At that time, self-service, regular unleaded gasoline prices went from about 85 cents a gallon to 95 cents. For premium unleaded at the self-service pump the price climbed to about $1.20 a gallon from $1.09.

According to a AAA survey of Peninsula gas stations, prices had risen at least another 10 cents a gallon as of May 13. Self-service regular unleaded is averaging $1.06 a gallon on the Peninsula and premium unleaded is going for about $1.30 a gallon.

The biggest price increase seems to be past, according to a national survey reported by the Associated Press. The average price of gas rose only a penny a gallon in the last two weeks, the survey reported.

Heavy competition among wholesalers accounts for the smaller size of the latest increase, said Trilby Lunberg, who performed the survey. She said wholesalers are trying to keep prices low in an effort to keep customers.

Normally, prices continue to rise during the high-consumption summer season, Lunberg said. But because the increase came early and so suddenly this season, there's a chance summer prices may drop slightly.

"It's possible that a lull in gasoline prices will occur, but it cannot be expected because demand seems strong at a time when gasoline supplies are not in surplus," she said.